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F.0HASE, SEWING MACHINE.

Patented May 31,1898

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F CHASE SEWING MACHINE. No.- 05,-040.:

Patented May 31-, 1 898.

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. UNITED. STATES PATENT O ICE.

FRANK-CHASE, OF -MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR' o [WALTER SHAW', TRUSTEE.

*SEWING-MAHINL- SPECIFICATION formingapart of Letters Patent No. 605,040, dated May 31-, 1 898. Application filed May23, 1895. Renewed A g st 12, 1896. Serial No. 602,582. Illa-model.)

To all whom/it mag "concern.-

Be itknown that I, FRANK CHASE, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State .of- Massachusett-s, have invented a new an'd'useful 5 Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specifications i My invention relates to that class of sewing machines in which a hook-needle isused; and

it consists in'a device, termed by me a loop- 1o keeper}? which enters the loop of thread as .itis drawn out by the needle, which whilethe needle-is taking a fresh loop holds so much of the previous loop as is needed toform about one-half of-the fresh loop, andwhich when the needle is drawing, out the fresh loop through the goodsre'nders said portion of the previous loop to the needle so as to furnish about one half of the thread needed for the fresh loop, the remaining half being 2o supplied by the spool or other source of th read-- supply. Theloop-k'eeper is thus, in effect, a measurer, which by holding thepreviouslyformed loop at a certain point andthen rendering it to the needle as it draws out a fresh loop furnishes to the latter the needed length of thread -to prevent the thread in the" hook' of the needle (as the latter ,is drawingthe fresh loop through the goods) frommoving or dragging crosswise in the hook, which ac- 0 tion, as is well known, results oftentimes in the abrasion and cutting of the thread.

When the sewing mechanism is ,one 'in' which a take-up is used .to set the stitch in the goods, the loop-keeper also has the'a'dded 3 5 function of receiving and resisting the strain exercised by the take-up, and thus -prevent-' ing that'str'ain from comingupon the needle. The final strain occasionedby theaction of the take-up comes upon the loop-keeper at 0 the time itis at restin the position it occupies in. holding the half loop or length'of thread needed to furnish about one-half of the-fresh loop in process of formation,

v The nature of my improvement will be readily understood by referenceto the accom- I vpanying'drawings, in hich' Figurel is a side elevation of so much of my improved sewing-machine as needed for the purpose of explanation. Figs; -2 to 5, :inclu keeper. Fig. 6 is a table showing the relation illustrate the operation .of the.loop-' of the driving mechanism for-the loop-keeper] and the needle during each revolution ,of the main shaft in the machine shown.

The particular form of machine .which-I have selected for the purpose of illustrating my improvement is that whichis setforth in my Letters Patent No. 445,924, dated February 3, 1892 v The machine is fully illustrated in my said patent, and I have therefore omitted from the drawings accompanying this specification many of the details thereof, re-. taining only such of the principal parts as will suffice for the purposes of explanation.

I have omitted the aw], (except in so far as it is shown diagrammatically in Figs. 2 to'5,)

the channel-gage, and the looper, (exc'ept so -D' is theineedle. Bis the back gageQ f and 35 constitute what I term in my patent the multiple purchase take-up, although for the purposes of my present improvement I. am not limited to this form of take-up. 29 is the strap connecting the back gage with the take-up, and 38 is the tension. These parts operate together substantially in the manner described in my patent.

A is theloop-keeper; shaft a, the rocking of which gives the keeper its proper motions. This device, in whichmy aforesaid Letters'Patent'is'termed the retarder. In theparticularorganization herein 7 illustrated it, like the retarder, serves to take from the needle the strain which otherwise.

would .be brought upon it when the take-up issetting the stitch; but "it also has the'addedfunction of a measurer, which the retarder has not.

.The positionoccupied by the loop-keeper. vwith relation to the needle is clearly illustrated in the drawings,and their movements nection with Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive. f

In '2 the needle'has nearly completed It is fast on a rock -v 85. present improvement is mainly comprised, takes the place of the devicewhi-ch in my relatively to each other will be readily understood from thetable in Fig. 6 taken in con its upstroke in drawing out a loop, and the loop-keeper A is shown in its lowermost position. During the remainder of the upstroke of then,eedle(see right-hand end of the table in Fig. 6) the keeper makes its upstroke, entering and engaging the loop. Now following the table from the left-hand end it will be seen that the keeper holds the loop in this position a short time, while the needle commenees its descent, as seen in Fig. 3, where the needle has moved down a short distance. Then the keeper commences to descend also and continues this movement until about half-way down, when it rests. During this movement of the keeper the take-up comes into operation, taking up so much of the loop (about one-half) as rendered by the keeper and gives the final strain requisite to set the stitch when the keeper comes to rest, and the needle completes its downstroke, takes a fresh loop, and then recedes on its upstroke until its hook reaches the goods, the parts being represented in this position. in Fig. 4, the

keeper having held back so much of the old loop as will be equal in length to about onehalf of the new one now in process of being drawn out by the needle. Then as the needle continuing its upstroke pulls this new loop through the stock the keeper moves toward the stock, as seen in Fig. 5, thereby rendering to the needle snfiicient thread for one leg of the loop to prevent sidewise drag of the thread through'the hook, the thread for the other leg of the loop being drawn from the spool or other main source of thread-supply. This movement continues until the keeper has given up all of its thread, at which time the needle will have very nearly completed its upstroke, the parts at this time reassuming the position shown in Fig. 2.

I have shown the loop-keeper A as operated by a rock-shaft oscillated by a cam through a connecting-rod, as will be clear from Fig. 1 without further description; but it is obvious that these details form no part of my invention and may be widely varied. The form of loop-keeper also is a mere detail, the substance being that the keeper shall engage the loop drawn out by the hook-needle, hold back or retain such length thereof only as substantially is needed for one leg of the next sueceeding loop, and then give up this length of the old loop to form part of the fresh loop drawn out by the needle.

I have illustrated my invention'as applied to that class of hook-needle sewing-machines in which the stitch is tightened by a take-up; but my invention is equally applicable to that .class of such machines in which ordinarily the needle tightens the stitch by a final .pull on the loop, (the standing thread or thread leading from the spool being then hld,) and when my invention is embodied in machines of the latter class the finalpull upon the loop to tighten the stitch will best be given by the keeper instead of ill-y needle; but in this case the keeper would have substantially the same sequence of movement as in the otherease so far asits measuring function is concerned, and the devices which in the other class of machines would act as a take.- up would in the case now contemplated act simply to draw back the surplus or slack of the loop given up by the keeper in moving from its highest to its middle position, or the position represented in Fig. 4.

Obviously it would be a mere matter of adjustment of the stroke of the keeper to cause it to pull the loop to tighten the stitch, and it is equally obvious that it is a matter of adjustment of the range of movement of a take-up whether it shall merely take up the slack or surplus thread given up by the keeper in moving down to the position shown in Fig. 4,, or whether inaddition to taking up this slack it shall exercise the further pull needed to set the stitch.

\Vhat I claim, therefore, as new and of my own invention is 1. The combination with the hook-needle and its looper, of a loop-keeper, located on that side of the work to which the loop is pulled by the needle, having a movement to and from the work with an intermediate period of rest during its loop-rendering movement, and actuating mechanism therefor, timed in their movements relatively to, and operating in connection with, the needle substantially as described, and means by which the slack or surplus of the old loop rendered by the loop-keeper before it attains its intermediate position of rest is drawn back to the side of the stock on which the needle takes its loops before the needle pulls the new loop through the stock; all substantially as hereinbefore set forth;

2. The combination with the hook-needle and its looper and the take-up for tightening the stitch, of a loop-keeper, located on that side of the work to which the loop is pulled by the needle, having a movement to and from the work with an intermediate period of rest during its loop-rendering movement, and actuating mechanism therefor, timed in their movements relatively to the needle and take-up substantially as described, whereby the loop-keeper retains that portion of the old loop needed to furnish the requisite supply of thread to one leg of the new loop, and at the same time takes the strain occasioned by the action of the take-up in setting the 

